As I was waiting for my pizza after shopping at Costco I get a message displayed on my phone:

“Voice Message from (314) ###-####”

I listen to the message… “Hey Keith, it’s Melissa Douglas… Ummm, its Thursday at 6:36pm and Adam and I are standing in front of the Fox…”

And right then and there, I just experienced every photographer’s worst nightmare. I truly thought the engagement session was on Friday. But surely enough, the session was booked for Thursday (it’s on my calendar). After hearing just a portion of the voice message, my face goes white, I start to sweat and I call Melissa back. I don’t how many times I apologized to her but I could hear it in Melissa’s voice that she was NOT impressed (heck, I wouldn’t be either). I gave her the option of still doing the session tonight or we could meet up on Friday and do it. They opted to still do it that night since they already had made plans on Friday and they were already dressed up. No problem… I grabbed the pizza, called Ali and apologized that we weren’t going to eat dinner together as I raced home to change and grab my gear.

I made it down there by 7:45pm… which mean Melissa and Adam had been waiting around for me for almost 2 hours! I apologized again as soon as I saw Melissa and Adam and they were super classy and understanding. Thank god for super cool clients. Now the challenge from there is to wipe off any frustration (from Melissa and Adam’s side) and embarrassment (on my side) and start the session with happy and cheery thoughts…

Melissa, Adam and I had been talking about this session and ideas for weeks now and I was super stoked to do it. They are both fanatical about guns (not in a psycho way… thank god again) and wanted to incorporate their passion into a couple images. The problem is that we didn’t want to get caught with a weapon drawn out in public. Luckily the session ran late enough that we were able to secure an alley and get the shots we wanted. :)

Since we started the session so late (due to the incompetent photographer :P), I offered to shoot more day time shots which we did the following week. I also had an idea for a ring shot but didn’t have the properly natural light to execute it that night. Anyhow, BIG THANKS to Melissa and Adam for a) being so understanding about the situation b) making things work so we had not one but TWO great sessions. Also thanks to my fiancée Ali for being understanding as well! I love ya babe!

Up next… Melissa and Adam’s wedding on June 25th… I’m super stoked!!!! And I will be there on time. :)

What an engagement session! Molly contacted me months ago about doing an engagement session with her fiancee Brandon and their ‘daughter’ Luna. Well I TOTALLY missed the additional comment in the message that Luna was their puppy and not their actual daughter. Which means I proceeded to put my foot in my mouth and asked about their baby… OUCH! Luckily Molly and Brandon are a super cool couple and didn’t sick Luna after me. I was fortunate that they let me stick around to shoot some images of them and introduced me to the St. Albans area. Luna actually had the best seat the entire evening as she kept nice and cool in the truck while she watched us sweat it out in the St. Louis summer heat. So how does a super cool couple cool down after a hot shoot? By jumping in the pool of course! Molly and Brandon were great sports and were up for something different so they grabbed some towels, emptied their pockets (no cell phones!) and waited for my queue. SPLASH! click! click! And that was a wrap. :)

Molly + Brandon, have a great wedding in Mexico (June next year) and get some more water pictures while you are tying the knot!

Beth – thanks for the referral! Your little sis and future brother-in-law were awesome to work with!

Karin – Big thanks! Especially when it comes from you! Thanks to Ali too for being so understanding when I give 100%. :)

Chantel – No worries, we’ll catch up next month!

Beth + Molly – Glad you like em! It was hard to pick 25-30 images from all the great pictures we got. I think you’ll be happy when you get to see the rest. Remember, we still need to do a ring shot. ;)ReplyCancel

“Your grandfather isn’t doing very well and your brother and I might have to fly out there next week.” my mom said over the phone while I was at work. This is where my story starts.

I think everyone at some point of time, thinks about the inevitable moment when one of their grandparents passes on… it’s something we all don’t want to think about of course. I haven’t seen my grandparents for about 13-14 years ago (which might as well be forever), shortly after my father passed away. Both of my grandparents have had their share of scary moments but they always prevailed. I figured this was one of those moments… so I didn’t really take my mom too seriously. My uncle had been looking after my grandfather for the past week or so and we kept in touch via Skype on my grandfather’s progress. I could see over the webcam that my 94 year old grandfather looked frail and weak. Then on Saturday night, I noticed I missed a call from my mother at 11:00pm. I knew it couldn’t be good news and I called her back shortly after midnight. She was in distress and asked me to call my uncle ASAP. My grandfather’s condition worsen and was admitted to the emergency room. My uncle sounded shaken and worried (which is uncharacteristic of him), told me he didn’t have much time and my mother and brother were starting to make arrangements to come to Hong Kong. My mother told me that I shouldn’t come since our wedding was a month away. My first reaction was that I couldn’t just simply pick up and leave work in a middle of a project and not to mention I would have to cancel my sessions with my clients to travel to the other side of the world… heck, the last time I was in Hong Kong was when I was 3 years old with my parents. But luckily after discuss the idea of traveling to Hong Kong and reading an email my brother sent me, I came to my senses and realized that if I didn’t go to be with my family and see my grandfather, it would be a moment I would regret for the rest of my life. Fortunately, my boss felt the same way and made arrangements for coverage while I was out. I have awesome clients which were understanding when I asked them if I could reschedule. $1500.00 poorer, I was booked on a flight to leave for Hong Kong on Tuesday.

I can’t remember a moment when I spent more than 15 hours in a small area of space (other than at home) AND disconnected from the world. That’s right, I had no access to email, phone or even power to recharge my gadgets while in the air. To say the flight was long is an understatement. I tried to sleep most of the trip and refrained from looking at the time as much as possible.

After losing a day, I finally arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday and I definitely knew that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. I wish I picked up more of the Chinese language when I was young (if you didn’t know, I can’t speak but understand bits and pieces… especially when my mom is mad at me :)). Fortunately, I was greeted by my 3rd uncle (George) and my 2nd uncle (David) and we took the 1.5 hour trip (via bus) from the airport to the city of Hong Kong. I could instantly tell that the city was overcrowded… people and cars were EVERYWHERE! And oh yeah… it’s HOT and HUMID! Jeans was a bad choice. When I finally arrived at my grandparents apartment, I was greeted by my grandmother, mother and brother. After a quick shower and we headed over to the hospital to see my grandfather. My mom told me that he had be asking for me and it would lift his spirits to see me… but before we could enter his room, we had to wear a disposable mask, smock and gloves. I can’t imagine my grandfather even recognizing me with all that crap on but it was necessary since he was diagnosed with TB, otherwise known as tuberculosis after having pneumonia for some time. Despite his weaken condition, he stared at me and shook my hand (firmly). His condition had apparently began to stabilize over the last day or two… I’d like to think that my family being there had something to do with his improved condition. :)

Unfortunately, the positive news didn’t last too long… We spent more time with him on Thursday and he seemed stable. But then we got the call at 1:45am on Friday. We all quickly threw some clothes and raced to the hospital but it was too late… my grandfather passed away peacefully in his sleep. Seeing my family completely distraught, brought back bad memories for me when my father passed away… but we were all comforted by the fact we were all there for him during his last moments and he was not in pain when we went.

It was a long night and the next day was even longer as my uncles (all 3 of them) and I raced around town to try to expedite the funeral arrangements. Apparently Hong Kong city only has one funeral home while Kowloon (neighboring district) has 4 but trying to get on the schedule takes some ‘convincing’ (= $$$). First, it was off to the hospital to pay the medical bills (like the US, it’s expensive to be sick or die in Hong Kong) so we could get the death certificate. Then it was off to the Health office to obtain permission to have my grandfather’s body cremated. From there, we booked the funeral home. Unfortunately, I wasn’t be able to attend the funeral or the wake since I had to leave to come back home.

Hong Kong was quite the culture shock for me… I’ve never seen so many buildings, boats, cars and people in one small area. Here are some of the images I took while I was there for 7 days. Thanks for reading my story and enjoy the pictures.

No, it’s not a rat. Sometimes I hate my iPhone for having a crappy battery life. Which meant recharging it in Chicago while waiting to board my flight to Hong Kong.

This was the view I had from my grandparent’s place when I woke up in the morning on the floor. Everyone was jet lagged which meant, our days would start at 4:30am.

The view across from my grandparent’s place.

Practically all the buses are double deckers.

Cool seat covers with little Asian spacemen.

Dim Sum!

My mommy

My (grand) aunt (which is my grandmother’s sister)

Even the taxis in Hong Kong have cheesy weird stuff.

McDonald’s! Lots of stray cats in the city just hanging out.

It’s very common that people hang their laundry outside to dry (like my grandmother does)

As beautiful as your photos are Keith, it was under sad circumstances. I truly am sorry for your loss.
Thank you for sharing your story and your photos. Always keep the memories alive!ReplyCancel

Brandon Monzyk -May 24, 2011 - 6:06 pm

Great pics Keith… What’s new?! They definitely bring back some small memories of my trip to Hong Kong (especially the peak). That was a clear memory of mine. Anyways great work and sorry it couldn’t have been on a happier note….ReplyCancel

Ladies – are you comfortable with your body? Want a fun, elegant and timeless way to document yourself? Then you are in luck – I’m doing another boudoir session on Friday evening, July 15th and all day Saturday July 16th, 2011 at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown St. Louis (5 star hotel). If you didn’t catch my post regarding my thoughts, ideas on what I think boudoir should be, please check out my post HERE. But just to highlight some of my ideas on boudoir photography –

– Elegant
– Candid
– Suggestive (so little to no nudity)
– Black and white pictures (but some color too)
– Only minor photoshopping done to the final pictures (I don’t want to dramatically change the pictures so much that it doesn’t even resemble you or your body anymore)

When? July 15-16th, 2011
Where? Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis
Why? Perhaps a special + unique gift for someone or maybe just to celebrate YOU!
Cost? $265.00
What does it include? – 3 hour session which includes the following – 1 hour of photography time, DVD of ALL the high resolution (edited), print release, make up by Alison Promaroli and cost of the hotel room.
Bonus – I’ll have some cocktails on deck and Alison will be with me the entire time, assisting with the session.

* Albums/coffee table books are available for additional cost.

Interested? Please contact me for more information or to book – keith@keithleestudios.com. I’d love to share some of my past work with you or discuss your ideas. Please keep in mind that spots are limited and I currently only have 2 spots left!

What a session! It started off a little sketchy at the Grand Basin where Angela and Brad met me at. We were greeted with a ton of wedding and prom parties. But no worries… we walked over to a quieter location around the basin and took our own pictures. :) The weather was perfect as the sun began to set and Angela and Brad were awesome in front of the camera. Oh, did I mention that Angela and Brad are getting married in July and their reception happens to be same location ours?! We’ve already been sharing our observations and ideas on how we plan to layout the space. :)

Usually, I cue couples when I want them to kiss and when they can stop kissing… but these guys were lipped locked all the time! It was like they were in love or something… weird. Anyhow, once we were done at Forest Park, we headed over to the Washington University Campus (I love that place!) and snap a few pictures at the Olin library. It happens to be finals week which means the library stays open until 4am! Luckily we didn’t need that much time.

Thanks again guys for letting me hang out with you guys on your Friday evening and for being so open to my ideas during the entire session. :) You guys rock and I can’t wait for the wedding! And congrats again Angela on the new job!